Hidden Pain
by TrueDarkHero
Summary: In Seven's eyes something was hidden, but is anyone willing to see past her exterior to help her? warning 7b slash!
1. Changes

Seven tapped at the control panel in front of her, bringing up an image of earth. She stared at it, a sigh escaping her lips. She heard someone enter the room and she erased the image from the screen. She turned around to see Lt. Torres looking at her suspiciously.

"Seven, what was that?" B'Elanna questioned, her tone almost angry sounding, her eyes flicking to the screen behind Seven. "What are you still doing here? Your shift ended over two hours ago."

"Nothing of relevance." Seven said her icy voice warning B'Elanna to drop it. "I do not require regeneration or substance." She stated.

"You are such a workaholic!" B'Elanna said stormily. She went over to a different console, muttering as she punched in different commands. After a few moments of watching Seven spoke.

"Lt. what are you looking for?" Seven asked. B'Elanna just mumbled something about an anniversary. Seven put two and two together. "You are looking for a nice view for your six month anniversary?" She said, making it sound more like a statement than the question it was.

"You make it sound so frickin' bad." B'Elanna growled, continuing to search through the database. Seven turned to her own console, punching in a few commands and something appeared on the screen.

"Is this aesthetically pleasing enough for your purposes?" Seven questioned. B'Elanna looked up at the image and her face went from annoyed to surprised.

"It's breath-taking Seven." She whispered her face in awe. "I haven't seen anything like it."

"It is visible from the eye. You can see it from the starboard side of the ship." Seven returned. She turned back to the console. "If you want to see it closer, use the holodeck program called Seven-Nebula-Last." She returned to what she had been doing before she had allowed herself to be distracted.

"Uh... thank you Seven, I might take you up on that." B'Elanna said before she escaped the Astrometrics room. As she entered to turbolift to go to her own quarters, she wondered. 'Why does Seven have it as a holodeck program?' she shook herself out of her musings when the turbolift halted at her deck.

Seven tapped at the console, finishing off the scans that she had started earlier and had been waiting to complete. When she had analysed the data that was brought in, she added it to the databanks and left Astrometrics, starting to feel worn.

"Doctor to Seven." The doctor's voice rang out on the com system. Seven tapped her comm.

"Yes Doctor?" she replied.

"Your weekly check up." The Doctor chided.

"I will be there shortly." Seven replied curtly, changing her direction to enter a turbolift. She entered sickbay.

"You're late Seven. Are you alright?" The doctor said as Seven came to stand near the console. She stood with her hands clasped behind her, as she always did.

"I apologize Doctor, it will not happen again." Seven replied. The Doctor took out a medical tricorder and checked on her Borg implants. He put the scanner down.

"Your implants are fine." Seven turned to leave. "But I am concerned. You seem overtired. Have you been regenerating properly?"

"Yes Doctor." Seven answered truthfully. She just hadn't been regenerating as much.

"I don't really think you need to regenerate anymore, I believe that you could just sleep like the rest of the crew. I believe it's time for you to get your own quarters." The doctor said, apparently satisfied by her answer.

"Yes Doctor." Seven said again. She gazed at the hologram coolly. She was about to leave the sickbay when the doctor called out.

"Seven!" she turned, waiting in the doorway. "My ears are always open if you need to talk." Seven nodded once before she left, heading for cargo bay two. She stepped onto the alcove and closed her eyes. And she dreamed, like she had been for the last week, something that she was not supposed to do.

--------

Lt. Paris entered B'Elanna's quarters, slowing when he saw the room. The lights were dimmed and at the center of the engineer's main room was a table with two settings, a lit candle resting in the center. B'Elanna stepped out of the shadows next to the door and hugged Paris around the waist.

"Hey." She said softly. Paris nervously pulled away. The smile fell from B'Elanna's face when she seemed the fear that clung to him. "Tom? What's wrong?" she asked. The helmsmen swallowed nervously.

"I'm not going to dance around this one B'Elanna." He took a deep breath before he blurted out what was bothering him. "I don't think we should see each other anymore." He said quickly. B'Elanna opened her mouth to say something but Paris held up his hand. "Let me explain. I loved you, but... you are not for me. I'm sorry B'Elanna, I just can't do it anymore." He said, striding out of the room.

B'Elanna collapsed on her couch, her mind still processing what had just happened. When she fully realised what had just happened, she let out a small quiet howl, and over turned the table, extinguishing the candle. She pounded again the wall, venting her frustration as angry tears slipped from her eyes.

--------

Seven entered the senior staff meeting finding it only half full. Paris was talking quietly to Tuvok, and Chakotay was sitting down, speaking with the captain. The Doctor looked bored off to the side. In fact, the only one not to arrive was B'Elanna. Seven stood in the corner, patiently waiting for the time that she could return to Astrometrics and do something useful.

B'Elanna came in, looking normal, but she seemed different somehow. Sadder, more depressed, as thought she had lost something precious to her. From the way she kept glancing at Paris, Seven thought she could deduct what happened.

Janeway took in the reports, her sharp mind absorbing everything. She dismissed everyone but Seven and B'Elanna. She B'Elanna first, concern in her voice. Seven, behind her unmoving mask, was anxious to get away from everyone.

"B'Elanna, are you alright? You seem..." Janeway let it trail on, looking into B'Elanna's eyes.

"I'll be fine Captain, just had a rough night." She replied. Janeway didn't seem to quite believe her, but she dismissed her, allowing her to go to engineering. She turned to Seven.

"Seven, the Doctor asked me to assign quarters to you. It will take a few days, but your new quarters are deck 9, section 8." She informed Seven. Janeway watched Seven closely for her almost invisible signs of emotion. Either Seven was getting better at hiding it, or she was totally neutral on the subject.

"There are no available quarters available in that section." Seven replied.

"One of the crewmen in that section has moved into a different quarters to live with another person. B'Elanna's quarters are there maybe you two could become friends." Janeway said carefully. Seven just regarded her with her Borg face on and did not say anything. Janeway sighed. "Dismissed." She got the feeling as Seven left that it was going to be a long day.

Seven became aware that she could no longer ignore her stomachs demands. She gave in and went to the mess hall, halting before the counter to attract Neelix's attention.

"Hello Seven! What can I get you today?" he asked cheerfully.

"Nutritional Supplement 41-beta... and an apple." She said. Neelix raised his brow and smiled.

"Just a sec." he pulled the drink out of the cooling machine he had rigged and grabbed an apple from a bowl on the counter. "Here you go Seven. Enjoy your breakfast." He said before he turned his attention to another. Seven went and sat in the least occupied corner of the mess hall.

She had partially eaten her apple and drank most of her nutritional supplement when she saw the shadow fall across the table. She put down the data pad that she had been reading. B'Elanna held a tray in her hand.

"Mind if I sit down?" she asked. Seven studied her for a moment. B'Elanna was about to turn away when Seven replied.

"No, I do not mind." Seven returned to the data pad, closing the program she had been reading. B'Elanna sat down, eating her food quietly. Seven studied her indirectly.

Her Borg enhanced ears picked up a conversation from across the room. She finished off what remained of her meal and dipped her head to B'Elanna. "Lt." she left the mess hall for the sanctuary of the Astrometrics.

B'Elanna watched Seven leave, wondering what had caused her to leave so suddenly. She noticed a few Ensigns also watching her go. She shrugged it off and finished her breakfast in silence before she headed off to engineering.


	2. Beneath the Surface

It was late, around 2300. Seven entered holodeck one, dressed in a long flowing white dress. She activated one of her programs, the newest one she had created. It was called Seven-Eternity. It was encrypted so that only Seven could activate it.

The scene around her materialized. She was on the seaside, the rugged cliffs dropping off near her. The sun had already set and the stars above her shone brightly. A gentle wind blew off the ocean, swaying the long meadow grasses.

Seven wandered through the meadow and down to the seaside, where she sat down on the sandy beach. She stared out at the ocean, letting the relaxing sound of waves relax her. She just sat there and thought.

"Five minute warning." The computer stated, cutting into Seven's thoughts. She sighed and got up, dusting off the sand on her dress. She looked at the beautiful scene around her and with an almost invisible downward turn of her lips, she ended the program and left, heading for cargo bay two, where her regeneration cycle was again plagued with dreams.

--------

"Carey! Run diagnostics on the plasma relays!" B'Elanna snapped at him. She had been in a bad mood all day and almost everyone was trying to avoid her, hoping that she would cool down quickly, which did not seem to be happening.

"Yes Lt." Carey replied rushing away to avoid the half klingon's temper. B'Elanna went into her office to work.

Seven noticed a power fluctuation in the overhead lights. She saved her work and left Astrometrics, heading towards engineering.

When she reached it, it was busy, teeming with activity. Rather than disturb anyone, she went directly to a console and ran a quick diagnostic on the Astrometric's power relays. B'Elanna left her office at that moment, only to find Seven tampering with something.

"What the hell are you doing?" B'Elanna snapped. Seven answered her honestly.

"There was a power fluctuation in Astrometric's. I came to correct it." Seven replied.

"Goddamn it Seven! There were no bloody fluctuations! We've been running routine diagnostics." B'Elanna shouted.

"There were. I am correcting the problem." Seven said with her normal neutral tones. It caused B'Elanna, already agitated beyond reason, to explode.

"Seven!" she screamed. "Get the hell out of my engine room! Can't you stop being such perfectionist drone for one minute and listen to me? God! No wonder why no one likes you!" She yelled.

"I will comply." Was all Seven replied as she rushed away. B'Elanna was surprised to see the definite shine of tears in Seven's eyes. She turned to see Seven walked at her usual hurried pace, but somehow, it almost seemed as though she was hastier than usual. B'Elanna sighed, her anger draining away. She looked at the information on the console that Seven had been working on.

"Damn it." She said when she read the analysis. She left engineering, leaving the console on. In Standard Federation text was the report of a minor power surge in Astrometrics.

B'Elanna went directly to Astrometrics and was surprised to see that Seven wasn't there. She went up to the console, glancing at what Seven was working on. She frowned, knowing that the amount of work in the scans should have taken a few days, but it was only started the day before. She got curious and looked at the work logs to see how long Seven worked on them.

She scrolled through it until she came across Seven's work log. Seven had not logged out until about twenty minutes ago, where she had headed straight to engineering. If the computer was correct, then Seven had not slept in the past thirty-six hours.

"Computer, locate Seven of Nine." B'Elanna commanded.

"Seven is in cargo bay one." The computer's voice rang out automatically. B'Elanna headed there. She reached it, the automatic doors opening soundlessly.

"Seven?" B'Elanna called softly, looking around the darkened room. She heard something near where Neelix kept his plants. She quietly slipped forward to peer around the large storage containers.

Seven was carefully tending a small portion of a garden. She didn't have her usual Borg mask in place, instead, her lip trembled and her eyes shone. She poured carefully measured amounts of water into each plant.

"Seven?" B'Elanna said softly. Instantly, Seven's stance became stiffer and her face was schooled to neutrality. Seven set down the container she used to water the plants and turned, her hands hidden behind her. She was as she always was, emotionless, but B'Elanna couldn't wipe the trembling lip from her mind. "I'm sorry Seven. I didn't mean to get angry at you. You're right there was a power fluctuation in Astrometrics. I apologise." B'Elanna said, dipping her head.

"Apology accepted." Seven replied, turning away from her. B'Elanna turned to leave, but before she took a step she hesitantly turned back.

"Mind if I swing by your quarters later?" B'Elanna asked.

"If you must." Seven replied. The engineer left. Only after she was in engineering did she realise that Seven had been wearing an Astrometrics uniform and had been tending flowers, not any of Neelix's food plants.

--------

B'Elanna waited for Seven to answer her door. The door opened, though she had not heard Seven's voice. She was surprised by what she saw.

The rooms were totally devoid of the lived in feel. Everything was as it had been a few days ago when she had made sure all the technology was operational. Nothing had been touched.

"Computer, where is Seven of Nine?" B'Elanna asked.

"Seven of Nine is in holodeck two." B'Elanna headed there, wanting to talk to Seven. She stepped into the holodeck, looking around for Seven.

It was an ocean hologram. She looked for Seven and she saw her on the beach below her sitting on a rock. B'Elanna ran down the path to join her.

"Seven! I want to talk to you!" B'Elanna called. Seven's head snapped up.

"Go away." She said. Her voice was cracking. B'Elanna slowed a few feet, a frown on her face.

"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you, that's all. I wanted to ask you, why you working such long shifts? And have you been in your quarters yet?" B'Elanna asked.

"Just leave me alone." Seven snapped. B'Elanna took a step back, startled at the icy tone in Seven's voice. She had thought that Seven was normally icy, but she had been wrong.

"Seven? Tell me about it." She must have said something, cause her words triggered something she did not expect. Seven rose to her full height at six feet, anger blazing in her eyes.

"Just mind your own business Torres! I am perfectly capable of fending for myself!" Seven snarled. B'Elanna could see some other emotion glittering under the anger.

"Seven, what's going on?" B'Elanna asked.

"Nothing! Nothing is going on! I'm fine..." She no longer sounded like the Seven that B'Elanna knew and she knew that she was witnessing a side of Seven no one else had, except for maybe the captain.

"Care to tell me what's wrong?" she commented. "Why have you been working so hard?" Seven turned away. B'Elanna took went closer to Seven until she stood a few feet behind her. "Seven?"

Seven's shoulders shook. B'Elanna wrapped her arms around the former drone and sat them both down. Seven turn her head into B'Elanna's shoulder, crying silently. B'Elanna just soothed Seven the best she could, murmuring reassurances. Eventually Seven's tears stopped, but her slight frame still shook.

"Want to talk?" B'Elanna said softly.

"I am sorry for my lapse. It won't happen again." Seven said, pulling away, her mask reclaiming her face. B'Elanna stood when Seven did.

"I'm not buying it Seven. Tell me what's wrong." She demanded. Seven turned around, clasping her hands behind her. She looked the same as before, but now B'Elanna could see the pain in the woman's eyes.

"Astrometrics is a quiet environment. I find it soothing. I prefer it's loneliness to the hostility I meet every where's else. I do not like my dreams." Seven stated. "Satisfactory?" she said, starting to climb the path off the beach. Before she left the holodeck, she said something else. "It's better to have an unrequited love than one who hates your guts because of it." Seven left the room, the doors closing with an odd sense of finality.

"Computer, end program." The scene around her faded, leaving the gleaming metal room of the holodeck. B'Elanna stood there for a few moments. She touched the damp part of her shirt, not quite sure whether or not to believe that Seven had actually been the one she had held in her arms.

B'Elanna decided that she would wonder about it tomorrow. She was tired and she had an early shift. She went to her quarters. It was still a mess, but she just hadn't felt like cleaning it up and hadn't really found the time to do so. She changed into something comfortable and slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Seven sat in the empty mess hall, staring at the stars that seemed to zoom past. She had no idea what possessed her to say something that close to the truth, but she didn't really want to delve into it, knowing it would just bring up painful thoughts.

The mess hall doors opened, revealing a very tired Janeway. She grabbed a cup of coffee turning to see Seven sitting by herself in the corner. She came to sit quietly next to the silent woman.

"Seven, shouldn't you be asleep?" Janeway commented.

"You are in more need of sleep than I do Captain." Seven murmured. She did not even turn to look at the captain.

"You seem tired. You should get some sleep." Janeway persisted.

"No, thank you." Seven got up and left the mess hall, disappearing door the corridor. Janeway stared after her, wondering what had gotten into Seven.

--------

B'Elanna attracted Janeway's attention after the morning briefing, everyone else filing out. Janeway sat back down, smiling at B'Elanna to join her.

"Captain, I am worried about Seven." She said bluntly. Her words shocked her superior into silence. "She hasn't been sleeping I don't think she has even been in her quarters yet. She has been working extreme amount of hours. And... we had sort of an odd talk in the holodeck."

"What sort of talk?" Janeway asked once she had regained her wits.

"She cried." Was all B'Elanna said. Janeway looked at B'Elanna while she pondered.

"I'm sure she is fine Lt. She was fine last night when I spoke to her." The captain said. B'Elanna frowned at what she heard.

"Captain, I really think something is wrong."

"And I don't. Dismissed." Was the curt reply.

B'Elanna left the room, angry that the captain would not believe her about Seven. She stormed into engineering, working herself up into a foul mood.

"Lt. Seven came by. She asked me to tell you that she apologises for last night and that it won't happen again. I never thought I would hear the Ice Queen apologise for anything." The ensign said with a smirk. When B'Elanna whirled on him, he paled and the smirk left his face. He cowered as he became the target of the half klingon's temper.

"I don't EVER want to hear anything like that again! I hear one more rude comment about Seven, I will personally dismantle the person's hand and force feed it to them! Your holodeck privileges are removed for the rest of the week! Get back to work!" she snarled. The ensign went back to what he had been doing, his face a bright red. "God damned jerks." She muttered to herself darkly, shooting dirty looks at the ensign, who pretended not to notice.

After her shift ended, B'Elanna sought out Seven. She turned out to be in the Astrometrics, although it didn't surprise her much. She stood by Seven, waiting for Seven to finish what she was doing.

"May I help you Lt.?" Seven asked in clipped tones. She continued to work, images flickering across the screen.

"Seven." B'Elanna growled. It caused her to turn. "Talk to me. What is hurting you so much?"

"Pain is irrelevant." She stated calmly.

"Don't give me that bullshit." The engineer replied hotly. Seven looked at her, her lack of sleep evident in the dimmer light.

"Why do you insist on finding out?" Seven said. She made no effort to deny that she was in pain.

"Because I care."

"You do not. You have hated me since I came aboard Voyager." She replied calmly.

"Maybe I did once, but I don't now. I care about you. I only want you to feel better." B'Elanna said.

"I do not believe you." Seven said. B'Elanna growled in frustration.

"Goddamn it Seven! Why can't you just accept it as the truth for once? If I didn't care, would I do this?" B'Elanna roared. She gripped the back of the taller woman's head and pulled her down, her lips hungrily devouring the former drone's. Seven broke the contact, a hand gently touching her lips.

"I do not understand..." Seven said. Rather than ask B'Elanna to explain, she logged off and fled.

B'Elanna was just as shocked that she had kissed Seven. That wasn't the oddest part. The oddest part was that she wanted more.

--------

Seven entered her assigned quarters for the first time. They were bare of any personal touches and had the sterile smell of the sickbay. She looked into the bathroom and the bedroom, finding that they too also lacked personal touches. She went to the replicator, flicking through the selections. She replicated a bunch of items that she needed or wanted to make the quarters.

She set one of the blankets onto the back of the couch and one on the foot of the bed. She put away the meditative devices she had acquired a taste for in a storage unit. She placed everything where she wanted it. She tapped her comm badge.

"Seven of Nine to the Captain." Seven stated.

"Janeway here." The captain's voice drifted into the room.

"I require a few days off. I wish to ask for three days leave." Seven requested. The Captain was quiet for a few minutes.

"Request granted." A pause. "Seven, I hope you know that you can talk to me about anything." She said. Seven wanted to fling the comm badge across the room.

"I am fine captain Seven of Nine out." Seven ended to conversation, tapping the badge, cutting off whatever more the Captain wanted to say.

The captain stared at her own comm badge, as though through it she say Seven. Perhaps she had disregarded B'Elanna's opinion too quickly. Seven had never before asked for a day off. That she felt she required it was a shocker to the captain. She had always assumed that Seven was adapting well, but now she wasn't quite as sure.


	3. Mists of Love

Seven woke to the sound of the annoying chirp that the computer did when someone was asking to enter a person's quarters. She really didn't feel like dealing with anyone right now. She got to her feet however and pulled on a robe that she had placed next to the bed. She went to the doors. They opened to reveal a very awake B'Elanna, who was smiling.

"Good morning." B'Elanna said cheerfully. Seven clasped her hands behind her back, standing to her full height.

"May I help you Lt.?" Seven asked.

"I was just wondering if you would like to join me for breakfast in the mess hall." B'Elanna commented.

"I do not plan on going anywhere currently. Good day Lt."

B'Elanna sighed. "Seven, you need to eat. If I have to I will carry you there, but I would rather not. Come on, let's go get breakfast."

"I said no."

"How about we eat here then?" B'Elanna suggested.

"Enter." Seven said leaving the doorway. She went and sat on the couch, tucking her feet under her. B'Elanna went to the replicator.

"What would you like? I plan on having eggs. Computer four eggs scrambled." The food materialised in front of her.

"Computer, Nut-"

"Real food Seven, not a nutritional supplement." B'Elanna cut in.

"Computer, a... fruit salad." Seven said hesitantly. B'Elanna carried the bowl to Seven, who took a few small bites.

"Seven, will you tell me now?" Seven didn't say anything. "Please tell me what's bothering you Seven." Seven looked at the half-klingon, a sigh escaping her lips.

"I do not feel as though I fit in."

"Why?"

"You do not fool me Torres. I can hear anything anyone says near me. I know you dislike me, so please, stop pretending to care." Seven replied. Her tone was clipped again and her Borg mask was in place.

"What?" B'Elanna said.

"My hearing is Borg enhanced. You already know that, but you probably don't really think about it. I overhear conversations not meant to be heard. I know what everyone thinks of me." Seven said coldly. In her steel blue eyes something flickered there.

B'Elanna paled. "Seven, I'm sorry. I didn't really know you before." She said.

"And you don't know me now." Seven paused. "You want to know what is bothering me? I don't fit in, no matter how hard I try. I try to adapt, but I can't change who I am and that seems to be the only way that I will be accepted. No matter how much I try, the one I care about most regards me with loathing. I can never tell them how I feel, because that would ruin what little I have left. At least as The Ice Queen I can have peace from everyone else. After all, who wants to be friends with a heartless machine?" Seven grew sadder at her telling.

B'Elanna felt her heart give a painful squeeze. "Seven, I know you aren't the Ice Queen you pretend to be. Why don't you let other see you for who you are? I am sure they would like you for who you are."

Seven smile and B'Elanna smiled in return. Her eyes caught the beauty in Seven's smile, so unlike the expression she normally wore. She seemed so much more alive. B'Elanna suddenly wanted to lay claim to Seven. She fought the urge and decided that she needed to get to engineering or something.

"I got to go Seven." B'Elanna said. She rushed out of the room, leaving a confused Borg behind her.

"Hope is irrelevant." Seven said softly to herself before she sat on the floor with a meditative candle in front of her, falling into a deep trance.

--------

B'Elanna eventually found the holodeck, and started a klingon battle training program. She found the physical exertion calming. The five minute warning passed when she had worked herself into a good sweat. She didn't really notice the warning and was surprised to hear someone speak.

"You lack flow." Said the icy voice. B'Elanna dropped her Bat'leth and whirled. Her enemies Bat'leth reached close to her skull before the icy voice spoke again. "Computer, end program." Everything disappeared. The voice had picked up a trace of fear.

"Seven! I didn't realise you had reserved the next hour." B'Elanna said, blushing. Seven wore casual pants and a tank top that left nothing to the imagination.

"I have." Seven hesitated for a moment. "Would you like to join me in Seven-Nebula-Last?" it sounded like she didn't expect B'Elanna to accept.

"I would love to." B'Elanna said, surprising the Borg. "Just as long as you don't mind me being sweaty."

B'Elanna swore she heard Seven say that she never minded her, but she just thought it was her imagination. Seven activated the program.

B'Elanna gasped. When Seven had sad a closer look, she had thought that she meant a closer view. They were immersed in the beautiful nebula its gases cool to on her skin. It was a miracle of programming. It was so realistic that B'Elanna almost thought she was dreaming.

"Seven... it's absolutely gorgeous! You did a great job!" B'Elanna exclaimed. She heard a soft thank you. She looked around into the mist-like gas, searching for Seven. "Seven?" she called.

"Lt. I have a confession to make." Seven's voice whispered through the brightly coloured mists.

"Seven?" B'Elanna said in confusion, trying to see Seven's wiry form in the mist.

"I... this is more difficult that I calculated... I love you B'Elanna. Forgive me." Seven appeared beside her suddenly. With a swiftness that startled B'Elanna, Seven wrapped her arms around her, and brought her lips down to meet B'Elanna's.

B'Elanna's klingon urges roared back to the surface and this time she could not contain herself. She growled deep in her throat and pulled Seven closer to her, possessively holding her. Seven moaned softly and that was the only encouragement B'Elanna needed. Breaking the kiss, she breathed into Seven's ear. "You're mine now." She whispered, sinking her teeth into Seven's jaw, tearing the tender flesh. Blood trickled from the wound and into B'Elanna's mouth. She licked the wound clean.

"B'Elanna..." Seven murmured, recapturing B'Elanna's mouth. The mists enveloped them, the wispy fluorescent coloured gases wrapping seductively around them.

"The view is beautiful." B'Elanna said, looking directly at Seven. Seven smiled again and drew the klingon into a crushing hug.

--------

"Where are B'Elanna and Seven?" Janeway said at the morning briefing three days later. The others didn't reply. The captain sighed. First Seven said she had needed a few days off and then B'Elanna had said the same. She waited a few more minutes before she finally got fed up and tapped her comm. Badge. "Janeway to Torres."

It took a few moments for Torres to answer. "Torres here." She said huskily.

"You're late." Janeway snapped. "Get you butt down here right this minute Lt.!" the captain shouted.

"Yes Captain." B'Elanna replied. Everyone in the meeting room heard her giggle. "Sh Seven! I'll be there in a few moments. Torres out!" B'Elanna said.

Janeway had the most shocked look on her face and for the second time in a week, she stared at her comm. badge as though it was responsible. When she looked up, everyone in the room was looking surprised... except Tuvok, who had the smuggest look on his face that Janeway had ever seen on him. He turned to the Doctor.

"I do believe I have won the bet Doctor." He said calmly. The Doctor grumbled.

"I don't know how you do it Tuvok! Really! I don't!" the Doctor complained.

"Bet?" Tom asked.

"We bet once we knew that you had broken up with B'Elanna that she would finally look at Seven the way Seven has always longed." Tuvok said. "And I do believe you have to be a mime for a week." He said to the doctor who frowned, but was silent.

"But... how...?" Tom said in confusion.

"Lets not discuss this here I am confused enough as it is." Janeway said, halting any further comment on the subject. "Do I even want to try and contact Seven?"

"I would recommend against it Captain, it sounded like we disturbed them. I am sure they will be here in a few minutes." Tuvok replied. Janeway stood and allowed the small conversations to start up.

Seven and B'Elanna walked in about twenty minutes later, hand in hand. Both Seven and B'Elanna had a bite mark on their jaws. They sat down at the table and calmly waited for the meeting to begin. The doctor eventually had to give up on telling his report and simply handed the captain his report in written form. It was a peaceful time and the captain dismissed everyone.

"Err... just for peace of mind, you two just started this up right?" Janeway asked. It would have bothered her for weeks if she didn't ask.

"That is correct Captain." Seven said, smiling at B'Elanna, who smiled lovingly.

Janeway looked at the two of them and decided not to inflict them upon the rest of the crew just yet. "I am giving the both of you the rest of the week off. No objections." Janeway took on a small smile. "I am happy for the both of you. Be warned though B'Elanna, you behave."

"Hey I'm not the one who-" Seven silenced B'Elanna with a kiss.

"I do not think the captain wishes to know that information." Seven told her lover. B'Elanna got a wicked grin on her face and whispered something into Seven's ear, who blushed a bright red.

"B'Elanna!" she said. B'Elanna nodded to the captain as Seven dragged her out of the room, saying something along the lines of holding her to that promise. Janeway almost shuddered to think what B'Elanna had in mind.


End file.
